Articles archived for July 2009

How much do you really know about language usage? Are you sure you use “they’re“, “there“, and “their” correctly? When is it appropriate to use “whom“, “whome“, or just “who“? Confused about whether to “lay” or “lie“? Grammar Girl has the answers and she gives them in a way that makes it simple to understand.

I can’t think of any book that covers so many language quirks within its pages. To be honest, I found it a little draining to read. I read Grammar Girl’s book, several pages an hour, one tip after another without pause, but it is a book better suited to reflective browsing. In the same way that reading a dictionary will do wonders for your vocabulary but can be exhausting if attempted in a single sitting, Grammar Girls’ Quick and Dirty Tips for Betting Writing will do wonders for your writing but can be overwhelming if rushed. It is the kind of book one needs to savor, allowing each tip to simmer in your mind before sampling the next.

Having failed ninth grade English, and dropped out of school soon after, I never learned the ‘rules’ in a formal setting. I am amazed at what my nine-year-old daughter brings home from school about phonics and usage. She is learning things in grade four that I had never learned before; she teaches me! Twelve years removed from school I’m beginning to understand the difference between nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. I’m still working on understanding objects, subjects, and participles. I write instinctively, having read extensively, but am beginning to learn WHY a sentence works one way better than another and WHY this word differs depending on tense.

Feeling a little out of my element with grammatical context I found every page was a learning experience. There was so much to absorb in this plethora of information and insight that I had never truly comprehended before. Every tip offers an opportunity to learn about language from regional distinctions to popular adaptations. Not only does Grammar Girl, Mignon Fogarty, share simple tricks to help us remember ‘the rules’, she also explains the grammatical reason, the ‘proof’, that they are, in fact, the grammatically correct.

I found Grammar Girl’s book intense. I am learning so much! I LOVE IT!

Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing is a book I know will sit upon my desk for years to come. It is not the kind I might read once then allow to gather dust on the shelf of the formerly loved. Despite it’s cheery cover and warm voice this is definitely a writers reference, and it includes a detailed index to make it even more effective as a reference guide.

If you’re looking for an addition to your desk, particularly a comprehensive guide to modern word usage and grammar, then this is the book you need. I want to give a big shout out, “THANK YOU!” to Michele Tune. I had never heard of Grammar Girl, or her book before Michele shared both on her blog and had I not won my copy of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing it might still be sitting on my Amazon wish list! Thank you, Michele.

Do you have a particular usage stumbling block? Want to know if Mignon Fogarty covers it in Quick and Dirty Tips? Drop a comment below and I’ll look it up for you!

The Web is an effective tool for learning. In fact, recent studies show that 96% of internet users surf the Web, at least part of the time, with the intention of learning. 89% spend net time on research and 79% want to be kept informed. (According to the Ruder Finn Intent Index) Information is the primary resource this Super Highway provides but how effective is it really?

What information did you search for online today? What did you learn from blogs or articles? Where did you find these websites and what drew you to the websites you found today?

I have spent hours, today, trying to make my twitter use more effective. I’ve held a twitter account for several months but tend to tweet in bursts of sporadic activity. I tweet new blog posts and, when I remember, I’ll browse my timeline and respond or retweet. Effectively labeled links (those that have descriptive text – usually the post heading – included in the tweet) leap out at me and I click to read.

Today, I discovered Tweetdeck and it’s “mark as seen” feature. The “mark as seen” feature meant I could effectively save linking tweets that leap out at me, so I could read them later. And more links, and more links, and more links!!!

INFORMATION OVERWHELM!

There is an abundance of information online. Every moment the available content grows exponentially. In just a few hours of monitored twitter stream I discovered it is impossible to keep up with every piece of ‘interesting’ information. In my 290+ current followers alone there were days worth of reading time being passed back and forth, tweeted and retweeted.

As an eager sponge for information I had to face reality. It is impossible to read everything. The difficulty now is in trying to decide what I should let go and what I absolutely must read. Do I let the timeline return to wheeling past me and snag only those snippets I happen to capture in rare moments of twitter frenzy? Do I harvest all the great looking links and bookmark them to return to, someday? Do I subscribe to yet more blogs to fill my already overflowing RSS reader?

How do you deal with information overwhelm online? Have you discovered any effective ways to filter the interesting from the must know? How do you ensure you don’t while away all of your web hours reading fantastic content instead of writing your own?

Originally posted at A Book Thing. Republished with permission.

Writing compelling copy that engages readers and entices them to take action is a powerful skill, particularly when writing for the web. All writing, from landing pages, sales copy, press releases, and marketing documentation, to something as simple as a blog post or email requires an element of persuasive writing.

Recently, a new client hired me to write landing pages for affiliate products. It is a fantastic job, giving me everything I love about this business; in particular, a new challenge that pushes my boundaries and forces me to expand my writing repertoire. To do the job well I’ve had to spend time researching how to write copy that compels visitors to buy.

Lindsay Camp‘s book, “Can I Change Your Mind?” had been on my ‘to-be-read’ writing shelf for several months but with this new challenge it leaped out of the waiting pile. 240 pages later I came away with a deep sense of how writing can be used to transform people, to compel them to act, or change their opinions and beliefs.

First, we discover how persuasive writing is useful for everyone, not just professional writers. These days, we all use written language for all sorts of reasons from a simple note or email to blogs and fiction.

Persuasive writing plays a part in all writing because the key aspect of persuasive writing is to ‘change’ your reader. That change might just be to convince them that they want to keep reading (as in a novel) or it might be to have them part with their money or support a cause.

You need to know how to write persuasively. Not just so that you can write for clients, like the one who hires me to write affiliate landing pages, but so that every word you write connects with your readers.

Ultimately, the craft and art of persuasive writing comes down to a single rule. Lindsay covers this with “The three Rs of good persuasive writing”.

“Remember the Reader and the Result” ~ Linsday Camp

There are two things you must know about any writing project. You must know these things down to the elemental facts. You should have a these two elements honed to a fine tip pen before you begin writing.

Remember the Reader

Who are you trying to persuade? In freelancing we know this better as our reader, our target audience.

For example, YOU are my target reader, or you wouldn’t be reading this right now. My sharpened image of you is, “An adult who is interested in making a career from freelance writing, particularly in an online environment.” Now, there may be a few who read WRA who don’t fall into this ‘target’ but when I write, these people, ‘those interested in making a career from freelance writing, particularly in an online environment’ are the people I’m talking to. (If you’re not one of these people, PLEASE, leave a comment and let me know what brings you to WRA.)

Remember the Result

What do you want them to do? Simply keep reading? Leave a comment? Buy a product? Subscribe to your blog? Learn something new?

There are millions of results you might be aiming for when you sit down to write. One of the biggest mistakes we can make as a writers, is to begin writing with no concept of our intended result. Every form of writing evokes a result of some kind and not having a firm grasp of the result we want, the very reason we are writing, can often lead to unfocused, jumbled, and meandering writing.

For example, the result I want from this review is: ‘to give you enough information about “Can I Change Your Mind?” to decide for yourself if it will interest you’. Notice, that in this case, my result isn’t, ‘convince you to buy’. I don’t want you to buy the book if you don’t think you need it. I could set my result as, ‘convince reader they need this book’. But, I’m not brave enough to be so pushy and opinionated in a review.

Lindsay discusses this “Big Theory” far better than I have done in this blog post. Obviously, there is so much more to writing persuasively then I can cover in less than 800 words. In fact, “Can I Change Your Mind?” has a whole A to Z and several post scripts that go into more detail.

Readers Want Results Too

Ultimately, I have to ask myself if Lindsay Camp‘s book had the result its target reader wanted. Did this book help me produce the persuasive copy I was hired to write? It sure did! And now I can turn these new skills and techniques toward all my future writing projects.

Now you need to ask yourself: Would your writing benefit from learning how to convince your reader to take action? If it would, find yourself a copy of Can I Change Your Mind?

What do you already know about persuasive writing? I’d love to know more so if you have any resources you recommend or information you’ve learned, please, share your thoughts!

When I first started writing professionally in 2005, I didn’t know how to handle the fact that I don’t have an English degree. I was on my way to getting one but I dropped out of college due to a domestic violence situation.

There are some gigs where the editor, client, or publisher refuses to budge and insists on those qualifications and there’s not much you can do in that situation. But this is a rare instance so don’t rule out opportunities that indicate a preference for applicants with a degree or superior qualification. So, how do you build a writing career without an English degree? Here’s what I do, and you can too!

1. Study. You don’t have to go to college to study. Sure, you’re at somewhat of a disadvantage since you don’t have an English professor with a red pen but if you’re dedicated to improving your grammar and English skills, studying can make all the difference. (You might even find someone who is willing to mentor you and share their wisdom.)
2. Make an excellent first impression. You have one chance to knock the socks off the person reading your e-mail. Make it count. Double-check your spelling, let it sit overnight and proofread it again before hitting send. Be creative, enthusiastic, and put a fresh spin on everything you write that only you can bring.
3. Build a Web presence. This can make a difference, too. If a potential client or editor clicks a link to your website and/or blog and they find something well-written with a fresh voice, it can motivate them to give you an opportunity to prove yourself with them. Include contact details on your site such as your email address so prospective clients and publishers can reach you. You can use WordPress or Blogger for a free platform to begin with. You can also register a domain name for a great price. I’ve noticed a huge increase in responses and opportunities since I polished my online presence with my website: micheletune.com.
4. Be flexible. Learn to go with the flow. If you wanted to write a 2,000-word feature for the publication but the editor asks you to write a 200-word filler instead, just do it. You can’t always start out at the top. Most writers don’t. I’ve accepted that. And, I have found being flexible is something the people I work with love about me. They’ve said I’m creative, enthusiastic, and responsive to edits. And they know I can work with 200 words, 2,000 words, 20,000 words, or 200,000. I aim to please the person or company I’m writing for. It works for me. It will work for you, too.
5. Follow-up. Not every writer does this and it’s crucial. Just because you didn’t receive a response doesn’t mean they didn’t like your work. In fact, they may have loved your work and had the best of intentions to get back to you. But life is busy and there are only so many hours in the day. They could have forgotten. It’s always worth it to follow-up. It can also let them know you’re serious about the opportunity.
6. Sell Yourself. I know it’s hard (for some of us), but you really need to dig deep and find the courage to sell yourself. No, you might not have a big, fancy degree but nobody can be you. Make your writing services sound irresistible. The applicants with degrees might not have the personality and passion you have. A college degree can’t buy writing talent – or a personality. Remember the saying: “If you’ve got it, flaunt it?” Exactly!
7. Market. Have you read that it’s not always the best writers who get the most work? That they are getting the work because they market themselves better than the more qualified – or talented – writer? I believe it’s true. Marketing myself used to be my weakest area, but I took the advice of seasoned writers and probloggers. I started marketing myself like crazy, telling everyone everywhere I go that I’m a freelance writer and blogger. I also hit the social media world by storm and have blazed a trail, showing friends and followers what my passions are and that I’m a real person. Marketing and networking is key and the secret is to: “Just be yourself!”

Some resources I have found useful:

• Grammar Girl Podcast (I also have her book: Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.) Mignon Fogarty really breaks the English language down so you can understand it.
• The Associated Press Stylebook
• The Chicago Manual of Style
• The Elements of Style: The Original Edition by William Strunk
• This very blog, The Craft of Writing Fiction, has been a huge inspiration and source of professional writing wisdom.

It really helps to read. Envelop yourself with well-written books, blog posts, magazine articles. The more you read and the more you study and write, the better your work will be.

So, did I forget anything? Do you have an English degree? Do you think they are absolutely necessary for a writer to succeed? Do you have any resources to share that I left out? Have you tried to hide the fact that you don’t have a degree? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Photo Credit: Woodsy

Believing in yourself or the quality of your ideas is, perhaps, one of the greatest challenges writers must face before they’ll find success in this industry. Ideas are plentiful and, if you’ve read about the Idea Waterfall you know, there are no bad ideas. But which of the multitude of ideas we have every day can be transformed into something remarkable?

George Singleton says:

“We should believe in the possible existence of the Perfect Short Story or Perfect Novel in the same way that we believe in Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. They’re out there somewhere, but it’ll take some time to discover them.

Once discovered, without question, it will still take some work to convince people that it’s not a hoax. That should be your goal.” ~ Pep Talks, Warnings & Screeds by George Singleton

Believe In Yourself

As writers, our purpose is to convince others that the story we tell is one they want to read. The way we write encourages their interest, it holds them to the page. There are aspects in everything we write that influences the reader from our hooks, hangers, and the sequence of events, to the suspension of disbelief.

A writer needs to believe in more than the possibility that the perfect idea exists. The greater battle comes when we must believe in our ability to TELL the story perfectly. Our ideas begin, pristine, flawless, perfect, and from there it call all go terribly wrong. With every word we write we are growing, learning the craft, honing our talent, and so with each word we get better at transforming our ideas into the form they deserve. To tell a story we must have faith in ourselves and our ability to share our ideas in a way that expresses it clearly to our readers.

One of the greatest fears that cause writer’s block is a sense that we cannot write the story that deserves to be written. This fear is one causing me the greatest concern with my current novel. It is an inner agony to know you have a fantastic story, rich characters, an intricate but solid plot and face the foibles of our own fallacy. Self-doubt is a destructive force that leaves manuscripts unfinished or gathering dust. Too often it is a sense of being unable to bring to the page the idea that originally formed in the mind.

How do you reinforce your self-confidence? How do you convince yourself you can tell your perfect story?

Each time I face this fear I remind myself, “If not me, then who?” There might be thousands of writers better than I but this story is one only I can tell. It is an idea that came only to me and there is no way I could give enough of it to another writer that they would produce my idea exactly as I see it. I am the only writer who can breath life into these characters. I might not do it flawlessly. In fact, it is certain to be imperfect. In lowering our expectations to simply putting the story onto the page we take the pressure of perfection from our shoulders.

This is also the reason I LOVE first drafts. A first draft exists because we make mistakes. No author has ever told their story in a single telling. Novels particularly require careful crafting. The first step is to get an echo of our ideas, our characters on the page. The first draft is a shadow of the story we want to tell. We give ourselves permission to write badly because this first step does not require us to tell it right. Any mistakes we make in the first telling of our story can be repaired in second and third drafts.

Do you ever face self-doubt? What do you tell yourself so that you can move past fear? How do you learn to believe in yourself, to believe you are the one to tell this story? Do you believe in the perfect story?

Earlier this month, Writer’s Round-About had the opportunity to talk to MaAnna Stephenson about her new eBook series, “Just The FAQs”. It is wonderful to be able to share this interview.

It is such a pleasure to have this opportunity to talk about your new eBook series, Just the FAQs. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

1. First, what prompted you to write the “Just the FAQs” series of eBooks?

I took four years off from developing sites to do the research for my book The Sage Age – Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom, which was featured in Publishers Weekly. When I began creating an online presence for that book, things on the Internet had changed and Web 2.0 had become popular. I wasted a lot of days trying to find clear resources to learn what I needed to know to get caught up with the new technology. Since that process was difficult for someone with my background, I knew it would be a nightmare for non-geeks. I simply documented the steps as I went through them and that’s where the material for Just the FAQs eBooks originated. I made sure that they were clear, to the point, and easy to understand for folks who had no prior technical experience.

2. What do you feel is the most important fact these books give readers?

I believe the most important thing these books impart is a sense of confidence built on a solid education so that folks feel very comfortable creating an online presence for themselves that works right the first time and gets results.

3. Who would most benefit from reading these books?

The books are beneficial to anyone who is just starting out with online marketing and wants to promote a product or share news with a target audience. Or, if you’ve been blogging for a while but don’t know if you’re getting the most out of your blog or are confused about how to best use RSS feeds, the eBooks can help take you to the next level. The new classes also teach advanced tips and tricks not covered in the eBooks. Also, folks who already have invested in a nice static site that is tied to their shopping cart but have never blogged can integrate a blog into their site very easily. The eBooks will help them get started on the right foot with that.

4. You’ve taken to Web design and marketing alongside your writing.
How important do you feel it is for professional writers and
freelancers to learn the fundamentals of internet use or the more advanced aspects of Web design?

An online presence is critically important to all writing professions now, therefore, it is almost mandatory that folks learn at least the most basic skills of how to make the Internet work for them. This will include becoming familiar with HTML code, not just for their own site, but to enhance posts they make on other sites that will help get them noticed and stand out from the crowd. Also, new widgets are being created every day that are handy tools that help make managing on online marketing campaign easier and more efficient. Knowing how to work with some of the code to customize them to suit your needs is helpful. Those are part of the advanced tips and tricks I teach in the classes.

5. What sort of impact do you feel the online world has had or will have on the future of writing and publishing?

Digital media is the future of writing and publishing, just as it has been for the music industry for the last several years. Increasingly more folks are viewing online or downloading digital media, whether that is music, podcasts, or videos. The popularity of the Kindle and other digital readers are increasing the demand for more writing content in digital format. Fewer folks are purchasing the tangible medium these days, as we’ve seen with the decline of paper subscriptions to newspapers and magazines in favor of the online only editions. However, I believe some print material will remain for at least the next few decades, including reference books and study material. However, most college students own a laptop and use the school’s digital library and resources everyday, so the trend toward digital reference media will continue to grow.

6. Along with reading your eBooks, where would you recommend a writer begin learning about creating an online presence?

There are literally hundreds of thousands of folks who claim to be gurus on this topic and I’ve been fortunate to develop relationships with some really wonderful folks who are degreed in marketing and help folks develop strategies that work for their product. So, even though there are a lot of people who can teach you how to write an exciting blog post that gets attention and results, there are very few folks who teach the basics of the technical aspects of creating a blog and using all the whistles and bells of it. I’ve attended many teleclasses where the host is giving out the most wonderful information about blogging, but so much of it goes over the heads of the participants because they don’t understand the lingo or know how to install some widget. I’ve found very few sites or other resources that give clear, concise information about the basics in a step-by-step manner where folks can build on their knowledge. In fact, when I first heard about RSS feeds, it took two days of intense searching for me to have a full understanding of what they were and how to get the most out of them. I had to visit multiple sites to finally piece together that there are three components to RSS feeds. I’m posting new articles on the Resources page of Just the FAQs every week or so to help others avoid that frustrating and time-wasting search and to teach folks what they need to know to get started.

7. I love the smart and fun presentation of the Just the FAQs eBooks.
What went into making each of the books? Do you follow a particular process when creating a new eBook?

Thanks, I had a lot of fun creating them. I’ve written several types of technical documents, including engineering change orders, training manuals for technicians, and end user manuals. This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to include colors and symbols and make it fun and appealing to the more creatively-minded folks. I’m a woodcarver, multi-instrumentalist, and composer and I hang out with all sorts of creative folks, so I know how they think and what they like. In fact, I asked a few of my artistic buddies, who don’t feel very comfortable with techie things, to proofread the eBooks. They gave them a thumb’s up for ease of use and fun without being silly or verbose.

I’ve been an electronics engineer for so long that documenting a process as I go through it is simply second nature. Because finding the information was such an arduous task, I wanted to ensure that I had good notes for my own use. When my editor for The Sage Age heard that I was doing this, she began asking questions about her own sites, including her blogs and feeds. I sent her the documentation and she strongly suggested I consider publishing them. They are all step-by-step guides and all have the same color coding, symbols and layout.

The websites book is a little different. It’s written more in prose format and was developed from my years of experience working with clients, especially clients who came to me to completely redesign their site. They had no idea what they were getting into with the first one and made a lot of very expensive mistakes, including losing the copyright to the entire content of their site or not being able to get control of their domain name to point it to a new site. The book is full of information that will help you avoid these mistakes and create a site that both looks great and functions in a way that gets results. (I love your site, by the way. It’s very well done!) The websites book also contains the three worksheets I gave my clients to help them organize and gather the content for the site, which most folks get bogged down in doing because it seems so overwhelming. The only thing they had thought about before hiring a designer was making it look pretty. That’s only skin deep. You have to create content and functional aspects that capture your audience and drive them through the site. It’s the same reason grocery stores put the bakery up front, the meat counter at the back, and the dairy section on the last aisle.

8. We all began somewhere and I know from my own experiences that learning how to build websites and become known online often requires a great deal of trial and error. What sort of mistakes did you make as you learned the answers to the FAQs you share in your eBooks and how
have they helped you develop your skills?

Years of developing sites for non-profit organizations taught me a lot about being in the business of site development. They always wanted something that I didn’t yet know how to do, so I was constantly being challenged to learn and try new things. Of course, being an engineer or in any other technological field is that way. You may graduate, but you never get out of school.

I think the biggest challenge most everyone faces now is how to effectively and efficiently use an online marketing strategy. There are simply too many ways to market online to do them all. It’s important to develop a strategy that is a good fit for you and your product and have a site that lends itself to that strategy. At first it was important to develop a static website as an online brochure. Later, it became popular to post news on a blog as a way to drive traffic to your site. Now, you have to use micro-blogging and social network sites to drive traffic to your blog, which, for many folks, is integrated into the static site. The next wave that is already getting red hot is to use video clips on your site and in articles.

9. Creating a website, writing a blog, and developing a presence in article directories are all fantastic ways to build a writers brand.
With new opportunities becoming available on the Web every day, what else do you suggest a writer get involved in to develop their skill and personal brand?

As stated previously, videos are the next big thing. YouTube has created a culture of folks that want to watch instead of read. Internet radio and podcasting has created a culture of folks that want to listen on their iPod while they’re doing other things, like driving. So, it’s not enough to simply deliver great content now. The culture is demanding that it be entertaining and/or convenient too. Fortunately, there are lots of free applications that allow folks to create this type of content for themselves. Because of that, most of what’s on YouTube, internet radio, and podcasts is not produced by professionals nor is it always edited. It has a genuine, almost folk-feel to it. And that’s the key. The reason this low-budget production content is so well received is because of the cultural shift away from hard-sell marketing tactics to soft-sell, people oriented ways of building relationships between the seller and their target audience. It’s a natural extension of Web 2.0 and social media marketing, which is credited with creating two-way conversations between seller and buyer.

I’m moving in that direction with Just the FAQs. I introduced a podcast series a few months ago. Video articles and instructions are next on the to-do list.

10. You’ve already created several fantastic resources but I know most writers often think ahead to the next mountain. What are you working on now? Will you be adding new eBooks to the “Just the FAQs” series?

Besides the videos, I’ll be exploring WordPress this summer. My background was in enterprise level sites for businesses, but WordPress offers a lot of advantages for authors, musicians, and artists. I want to learn it at a developer’s level so I can create custom templates and widgets as well as add other functionality to it that’s not included with the original code. I’ll be expanding the eBook series to include the same type of information for WordPress that I’ve already done for Blogger, which is a much better platform for a small business to integrate a blog into their existing site very inexpensively without a huge learning curve. I’ll also be expanding the advanced section of the classes with this information too. I’ve considered doing a free teleclass at least once a month to help folks get started with the basics because I work with several editors and other marketing guru folks who need a little help getting their clients up to speed with the technology so they can help the client develop the rest of their marketing strategy.

Thank you so much for your time, MaAnna.

Thank you for the opportunity. You have great questions and it was a pleasure to answer them. I hope your readers find them informative.

MaAnna is visiting us at WRA today so if you have more questions of your own please leave them in the comments.

Each time a blog visitor comments on any or all of the blog stops, they will be entered in a random drawing for two free Just the FAQs classes. Not only that, but every commenter is a winner and will receive a copy of MaAnna Stephenson’s e-book the Quick Step Guide. If you haven’t already read her books, be sure to pick up the series at MaAnna’s Site, Just The FAQs.

There are moments in our lives when what was calm and structured becomes haphazard and crazy. It’s necessary to remember to write. Writing encourages your mind to continue developing metaphors, elaborate and descriptive experiences and keeps grammar fresh. For the typical college student, many hours are spent writing and reading. It’s during that time in our lives we are at our peak of writing know-how.

When twenty minutes is all you can spare, consider these ideas:

• Journal
  • Recording the events of your days is not only healthy for releasing tensions and sorting through problems, it can also give ideas for future articles and events transpiring in larger works, including novels.
• Writing Burst
  • Buddy up with a friend who writes.  Plan to do one writing burst a week and exchange them.  You might be pleasantly surprised at what comes through your mailbox and the inspiration it provides.
• Summarize the days events in 100 words or less
  • Keep it short and simple!  By limiting yourself to a small number of words, you will encourage your mind to pinpoint precise events and encourage learning new words to describe more than one action or event.
• Describe your best experience of the week
  • When life becomes chaotic, often times people will focus on the negative instead of look at the positive.  By focusing on the best experience of your week, you will boost your own mood and help change your perspective and disposition into one that is more positive.
• Carry a notebook and pen
  • By having a thought journal or idea journal that you carry, keeping track of ideas or jotting a few lines of a story will help bring those thoughts back to life when you have time to write.

Even though you may find you have no time to write an actual article or full piece of work, by continuing to write you are encouraging yourself to get right back into full-fledged writing once life settles back into routine.  Where can you find twenty minutes throughout your day?

I feel quite honored being able to pop in and share a bit about myself and writing with each of you here.  As the new bird on the block, an introduction seems necessary.

I am Mysti Guymon.  I am a mother to two boys, both high needs.  My time is limited throughout the day and most often I can be found writing the old-school way, early in the morning or far too late at night.  I tend to capitalize “my time” when I should be sleeping.  Maintaining early mornings and late nights can make for some pretty exhausting days, but in the end I’m still able to maintain my passion for writing.

Writing takes many different forms in our lives.  Most recently, I’ve had the grand experience of creating invitations.  Grammar, word selection and placement are important faucets when creating invitations.  Most events in our lives are quite casual.  This event, my wedding, took a much more formal stance.

The basic etiquette of wedding invitations:

• Utilize the full name of bride and groom.  If space is an issue, omitting the middle name is acceptable.
• British spelling of favor (favour) and honor (honour) is recommended.
• Spell out all words including the hour, date and year.  Saint (St.) and Mount (Mt.) are the only two abbreviations accepted.
• In names containing numerals (third) utilize roman numerals (III).
• For ceremonies taking place in a house of worship, you will “request the honour of your presence” whereas a garden wedding you will “request the pleasure of your company.”

If you are looking at creating your own invitations for a wedding down the road, a few key points to keep in mind:

• Are you issuing the invitations as a couple?
• Are you the parent of the bride issuing invitations?
• Are you the parent of the groom issuing invitations?
• Is the wedding of the garden variety?
• Would the couple be wed in a church?

Each question brings with it a different choice of invitation styles.  The first and increasingly popular scenario, is couples issuing wedding invitations themselves.  In this situation, the Bride and Groom’s full names will print at the top.  All pertinent information will follow in sequence of date, time, place.  The address of the location will always print at the bottom of the invitation.

Should the bride’s parents issue the invitation, it would read:

Mr. and Mrs. (Brides Father’s Name)

Request the honour of your presence

at the marriage of their daughter (Bride’s full name)

and (Groom’s full name)

on (Month, Date, Year)

at (full time)

Location Name

Location Address

Should the groom’s parents issue the invitation, it would read:

(Bride’s full name)

and (Groom’s full name)

request the honour of your presence

at their marriage

on (Month, Date, Year)

at (full time)

Location Name

Location Address

There are many more issues that could arise when creating invitations.  Some circumstances to consider are a widowed parent, divorced and remarried parents, divorced and one remarried parent issuing the invitations.  As we didn’t have to contend with those situations, you might want to check Emily Post’s Wedding Etiquette for suggestions.

As always, writing can be fun, invigorating and inspiring.  Somewhere midst the grandeur comes grammar.  Invitations are no different, even for a writer!

I’m excited to announce that we are hosting a special guest, MaAnna Stephenson, author of Just the FAQs, this month. MaAnna is a talented writer who has recently launched a series of instructional eBooks that share, in simple terms, the technical aspects that often confuse writers trying to promote themselves online. Are you wondering how to begin a blog of your own, create a website, or get started with article directories? MaAnna answers these questions and more in her Just the FAQs series.

Even better is your opportunity win! Leave a comment on any of MaAnna’s blog stops for a chance to win one of two free Just the FAQs eClasses. To find out more about MaAnna’s Virtual Blog Tour including a list of her scheduled blog stops click here.

Also in July I’ll review, “Can I Change Your Mind?“, a fantastic book on the craft and art of persuasive writing by Lindsay Camp and the book I won at Writing The Cyber Highway, “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” by Mignon Fogarty.

What else would you like to see at WRA this month?